2IDI Introduction to Digital Imaging

2IDI Introduction to
Digital Imaging
incorporating
ICPMM321A Capture a digital image
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Table of Contents
Introduction7
Section 1: Digital Imaging.
8
The Terminology. 8
Megapixels and Resolution
8
Aperture size. 9
Shutter speed 9
Noise
10
Sensors 11
Connectivity
11
File Format.
12
White balance and Colour Temperature
13
Burst Mode
13
Focal Length
13
Depth of Field 14
Maximum Print Size vs Megapixels. 15
Battery munchers 15
Digital Cameras 16
Understanding Camera Specifications
17
Memory Cards
30
SD Memory cards/Multimedia cards
30
Compact Flash Cards. 30
Section 2 Basic Photographic Principals.
32
Composition and Balance
32
Avoid Distracting Backgrounds. 33
Choosing main point of interest. 33
Angle of view 34
Placing subject off center – the rule of thirds. 36
Leading Lines 38
Horizontal or Vertical.39
Lighting 40
Full Flash – Front Lighting. 40
Sunlight - High Front Light 40
Side Lighting.-45 degrees 41
Backlighting 42
Using Aperture and Shutter Speed.
43
Light sources
44
Natural Light 44
Other Light
46
Flash, fill flash and flash off. 47
Reflecting Light. 48
Studio Light
48
Talking to Photographs 49
Section 3 Digital Darkroom Techniques50
Save a Copy, never use the original 50
Rotate 50
Crop
51
Correct Colour and Tone
51
Repair and Restore 52
Cosmetic Improvements
52
Save Your Working File
52
Resize or Resample 52
Unsharp Mask 53
Save a Copy for Final Output
53
Online Resources for learning Specific Software Packages
Section 4 Output of Images
54
Prints
54
Making Books
56
Electronic Slide Shows and screensavers. 57
Online Galleries 58
53
Introduction
There are more photographs taken daily than ever before. This
is because of the wonderful revolution in Digital Photography.
We have digital cameras such as the beautiful Hassleblad that
can take 20+ megapixel photographs and have 40+gigabyte
hard drive built in for the professionals use right down to mobile
phone and PDA’s that take 1-2 megapixel photographs.
But how do we know how many megapixels we need in our
camera?
Digital cameras are affordable to most people, plus you save on
purchasing film and processing costs. You are able to see you
images immediately. Sounds fantastic doesn’t it!
There are some costs that we do not consider. Digital Cameras
can go through batteries in no time. We need memory cards to
capture and store our images. We have to transfer the images
from our camera to a computer or image output device.
We take so many images and file them away on our computer
systems or share them with friends via email, but how can we
make paper copies of our images and display them in a way that
will make them stand out?
This is what we will discover in the follow pages. We will do
this in parts. First we will start by becoming familiar with and
understanding digital cameras. We will then look at some basic
photographic concepts for capturing better digital images. We
will do some basic editing of our images in our digital darkroom.
From there we will discover the best output for our finished
images.
Section 1: Digital Imaging.
The Terminology.
There are many new terms that we will come across when
looking at digital cameras. Lets get an understanding of the
jargon that we really need to know to get us started.
Pixels
Photographs on a computer are made up of thousands of tiny
squares called picture elements or pixels for short. Each pixel
holds information about the exact colour and tone for the image.
The more pixels an image has the larger
you can print the image. If you enlarge
an image and start to see little squares
then what you’re seeing is the individual
pixels as demonstrated in Fig 1.
Figure 1: the little squares are individual pixels.
Megapixels and Resolution
The number of pixels that a camera can capture indicates the
quality of the image that it can capture. The higher the number
the better the quality of picture that you will be able to take.
Lower megapixel cameras are great for emailing images to
others, posting on web sites and using on mobile devices, but
the print quality is often disappointing. The higher megapixel
cameras allow for excellent print quality and will allow you more
freedom to edit the images, but you will require more storage
space for the images and the cameras will cost more.
Resolution is the measurement of the output quality of an
image. DPI(dots per inch) for print and PPI(pixels per inch) for
screen.
Digital and Optical Zoom
Optical zoom is a true zoom function. It brings the objects closer
to you using the optics of the camera
Digital zoom enlarges a section of the image so it appears closer.
The quality of a digital zoom is the same as if you crop the
image using photo editing software.
So what does this mean? Disregard digital zoom qualities on a
camera. Optical zoom is what you want if you want to have true
zoom capabilities.
Aperture size.
Apeture refers to the size of the hole in the lens that lets the
light through to the film or sensor. It is used to regulate the
amount of light entering into camera for an exposure. Aperture
will also affect the depth of field. The larger the Aperture size
the more light that gets in through the lens and the shallower
the depth of field. You can use the apeture to get better pictures
in a variety of lighting conditions. With a large aperture you
may not need flash, allowing for a more natural look using the
available light. We will look at Aperture in more detail in the
taking photographs section of this text.
Shutter speed
The shutter speed is the amount of time that the light is allowed
to enter through the camera lens. The amount of time will
influence the depth of filed. It will also effect the sharpness of
moving objects in your photo. A slow shutter speed will make
motion blur. A fast shutter speed will capture the action crisply
and clearly.
Noise
Noise in digital images is tiny specks of random colour that show
up in an image. It’s the digital equivalent of film grain and can
be caused by long exposure and/or high ISO images taken with
digital SLRs. It can also be caused by the camera being hot and
from using the digital zoom(yet another reason to avoid it!).
When looking at the 2 images below not much appears different
until you enlarge the images when it is very obvious that the
image on the left has lots of noise.
Figure 2 examples of noise
10
Storage Media
Digital Cameras come with a slot for
a variety of media cards. Some digital
cameras also have on board
memory.
Figure 3 Sandisk Storage Media
The bigger the memory card the more storage space you will
have and the more images you will be able to take.
Purchasing spare cards can be a great benefit if you use your
camera regularly or if you use the high quality features of your
camera.
Think of your camera’s media just like a film; if you do run out
you can simply insert another one then download them all at a
later date.
Sensors
Digital cameras use small sensors to capture the light waves of
the image before transferring it to its memory. This is like the
negative of a film camera. The commonly used types of sensors
are CCD (Charged Couple Devices ) and CMOS (Complementary
Metal Oxide Semiconductor). CCD technology has been
around for over 2 decades and dominated high quality sensor
applications until about 2000. It was then that Canon introduced
the Canon EOS D30. CMOS was considered to have intrinsically
higher noise qualities but like most IT related technology, CMOS
has been advancing rapidly. It delivers better performance
including very low noise and lower power consumption (giving
better battery life) at lower cost.
Exercise 1
Go to the following web sites and find out more details about Sensors.
http://www.creativepro.com/printerfriendly/story/21600.html
http://web.canon.jp/Imaging/cmos/index-e.html
http://www.normankoren.com/Tutorials/MTF7.
html#Digisensors
Try and find out what the BAYER filter is?
Connectivity
Connectivity refers to how we will get the
data from the camera on to the computer.
Most cameras attach to the computer via
USB. Firewire and wireless connections
Figure 3
4 Lexar Card Reader
11
are also becoming common place.
Card readers for multiple types of
memory cards are also available
and are proving to be popular. Many
computers are now becoming available
with inbuilt card readers. We also have
some ranges of cameras now that
dock directly to the printer so we can
instantly print our photos. The Kodak
Easy Share series is a great
Figure 5 Kodak Easy Share System
example of this method.
File Format.
There are three types of file formats that digital cameras
can capture. The most commonly used one is JPG. (Joint
Photographic Expert Group). Tiff and Raw are available on the
higher-end cameras.
Digital cameras use their own processors to take the raw data
collected by the camera and process that data into a JPG format.
Each company uses their own standards to do this. The RAW
format keeps the data as an unprocessed file. This allows the
photographer more control over the way the data is processed.
The RAW format is still not fully standardised so each camera
manufacturer has their own software for editing RAW files.
Some manufacturers have worked with Adobe to create
converters so their raw file format can be converted to
a DNG(digital negative file). This allows the data to be
manipulated in Adobe Photoshop - the current industry standard
for photographic software.
RAW files are much larger then JPG files because of the
additional information that they hold.
Digital cameras have different settings for size of JPG files
which can be confusing. An example of this is a camera that has
settings such as fine, superfine and normal. These settings are
all capturing the same file type, but different resolutions.
Kodak cameras use logical names such as email, good, better
and best. Canon use small, middle 1, middle 2 and large. Check
your cameras manual to see the different resolution and file
types available to you.
12
White balance and Colour Temperature
To understand white balance you need to understand colour
temperature. When we look at a scene our eyes automatically
adjust for colour temperature because our brain knows that
the colours are not represented to us correctly and our brain
overrides what we see. You might have seen images where
they look a bit yellow or blue. Colour temperate is a way of
measuring the quality of the light and the colour that different
light sources can cast on an environment, which, in turn can
cause a colour cast. Film cameras catch the colour casts and
the colour cast was removed at the time the image was printed.
Digital cameras have an automatic white balance correction
system that acts like our brain does, so that you do not have
to worry to correct this after the image is taken. Some digital
cameras have specific white balance settings that we can use to
tell our camera what lighting type we are using. This can also be
used to create some very interesting effects.
Burst Mode
Many digital cameras have a burst mode or continuous shooting
mode. This mode allows the taking of a sequence of images in
rapid succession while holding down the shutter button. Images
are held in the camera’s buffer then saved to memory. This is
a great feature when photographing fast moving subjects so
we can take a series of images and then choose the best. This
features is not always available when using the flash as the flash
needs time to regenerate.
Focal Length
The focal length refers to a measurement of the lens. This
measurement will determine the width of angle or zoom
capabilities of the lens. The focal length is the distance between
the back lens element and the focal plane(the area of the
camera where the lens focuses on the film or digital sensor). In
SLR(35mm) format, lenses with a focal length of approximately
50mm are called normal (standard), lenses with approximately
35mm or less are called wide-angle, and lenses with a focal
length of more than approximately 70mm are called telephoto
lenses. In portraiture it is recommended to use a 105mm lens as
13
it gives the most accurate representation.
Depth of Field
Making the main focus of the image sharp and the background
out of focus gives us depth of field. We can control the depth of
field by controlling the aperture. A large aperture will narrow
our depth of field. A small aperture will increase our depth of
field.
Digital cameras often have a landscape and portrait mode.
These demonstrate the use of depth of field as the portrait mode
is preset with a narrow depth of field forcing our focus toward
the subject. The landscape mode has a wide depth of field and
therefore keeps as much as possible in focus.
The picture in figure 6 demonstrates depth of field. You can
clearly see that the dog and the grass under the dogs feet are in
focus but the background is out of focus. This makes us ignore
the out of focus and concentrate on the dog.
Figure 6: Example of Depth of Field
14
Maximum Print Size vs Megapixels.
The following is a guide as to what size print can be printed from
what megapixel camera.
6+ MP
5-4 MP
3 MP
2 MP
76.2 x 101.64
40cm x 50cm
28cm x 36cm
20cm x 25cm
This guide is for images that have not been cropped or the
digital zoom was not used when shot. Manipulated images may
mean smaller print sizes.
Battery munchers
Digital cameras need power. Many have their own power source
but some use traditional Alkaline Batteries. If unaware of
the problem you might find that the money you save in buying
film and processing is spent buying batteries for your camera.
Most digital cameras are battery hungry but there are things we
can do to increase the battery life.
1.
If your camera has a viewfinder, use it. Refrain
from using the LCD monitor when you are taking
your photos.
Do not leave the LCD monitor on for any
2.
length of time.
3.
Only using the monitor for playback, erasing,
etc.. Turn the camera off unless your using it.
With any digital camera, it would be wise to either get a camera
with a rechargeable pack or use Lithium batteries.
15
Digital Cameras
When comparing digital cameras you must first decide what the
camera will be primarily used for. Will it be used for snapshots
around the home? Will you need to print large images from the
files? Are you going to take up photography as a hobby?
Some examples of the considerations you might need are as
follows:
Do you want to Print enlargements of your images?
You will need Higher resolution.
Do you want to Publish on the internet and email to friend?
You will need Lower resolution.
Do you want to Take photos while travelling?
You will need more storage.
Do you want to Get in closer to your subjects?
You will need Optical zoom.
Will you be taking pictures of small items like flowers, coins?
You will need Macro features.
Do you want to take photos at night, indoors, by candlelight?
You will need Low Light features.
Will you be taking pictures of fast moving objects like race cars
or small children?
You will need a Fast burst rate.
Do you want to make sure that the money you save on film and
developing doesn’t just end up getting spent on batteries?
You will need a camera with rechargeable Lithium-Ion
batteries or similar.
Do you want to stick within your budget?
You need to shop around and know what you want.
Exercise 2:
Write down a list of things you want to do with your camera. Work out for
each of those wants what your features your camera would need to have.
16
Understanding Camera Specifications
We are starting to understand what we want in our camera, but
how do we find out this information? The best way is to have
a look at the specifications of cameras that are available on all
brand name cameras web sites.
We are going to investigate 3 digital cameras. These will be The
PowerShot A430, the Digital IXUS 55, and EOS 350D Twin Lens
Kit B, all from the Canon series of cameras.
Let’s look first at the specification for the Canon PowerShot A430
http://www.canon.com.au/products/cameras/
digital_compact_cameras/powershota430.html
This 4 megapixel camera is cheapest in the
canon range of digital compact
Figure 7 Canon Powershot A430
cameras.
Using the specification section from this web page we can find
out the nitty gritty details about this camera. The following are
main sections that we want to look at so we can ascertain what
this camera would be good for.
The Sensor information
This camera uses a CCD sensor that is 4 megapixels. The size
of the sensor is 1/3.2 inches in size and the filter array it uses
is the primary colour Bayer filter. These details were explained
in the technology section regarding sensors. If they don’t
make sense go back and have another look at the definition of
sensors.
17
The Lens components
We know from the terminology section of focal length that the
lens can be wide, standard and telephoto. We are interested
in what the optical zoom is on this camera. Digital zoom
is irrelevant. Its focal length, aperture, shutter speed, and
sensitivity allow us to compare it to other similar cameras. It
also tells us what the focusing range is, i.e. how far you need
to be from the subject for the subject to be focused on. This
camera has a focal length starting at 39mm and at maximum
zoom 156mm. This would make this lens a standard lens with
some telephoto capabilities. For depth of Field we look at the
apeture and this camera has an aperture of 2.8 to 5.8. at 2.8 we
would have very little depth of field. At 5.8 we would narrow the
depth of field.
18
Control/Balance
The Control/Balance section explains to us how the camera
measures the incoming light. This camera also has different
white balance modes, so if it’s a cloudy day we can modify the
camera for this and the camera will compensate the colour
temperature for it.
LCD Viewfinder
The Viewfinder is the hole that you look through to see what
your photographing. The LCD monitor is the small screen that you
can use to review your images. Some cameras use the LCD
Monitor as the viewfinder as well as for reviewing images. Using
a viewfinder is a good idea when taking photographs because
the LCD screens use up considerable battery power. If using
AA alkaline batteries this will make a big difference. This is a
common mistake made by owners of digital cameras. They often
say that they can’t understand why their camera goes through
so many batteries.
19
Flash Modes
Knowing the range of your flash is important as is the different
options available in the flash modes. All cameras tend to have a
flash on and flash off function but the other functions are useful
for other purposes. In particular the fill flash function is an
excellent option which will be discussed further later in the
notes. That option is not available on this particular model.
Selectable Shooting Modes
Shooting modes allow you to automatically select settings
for different purposes without having to fully understand how
camera manual settings such as aperture, exposure, F stops etc.
work. These settings give amateurs the power to capture well
exposed and in-focus images.
20
Image Recording Format
This shows the file format that is available. This camera saves in
JPEG format with 3 different compression levels.
The Large images are larger files in size but are better in quality.
You can decide the quality of the image you’re taking dependant
on what the images might be used for. For instance family snap
shots might be normal but special family group photos might
be used as enlargements so would be shot at the large setting.
The continuous shooting information tells you how many shots the
camera does in a continuous sequence. This is important
for fast moving and action type photography. The more and the
faster the better.
This camera comes with the ability to not only choose the
compression level (super fine, fine or normal), but you can also
choose the image size, making your choices for storage many.
This camera comes with a supplied memory card 16 Megabytes
in size.
21
The Interface
The interface is how the camera connects to the computer
system. In this case the camera can be plugged into the system
via a USB port. It uses a SD Memory Card or multimedia card
that holds 16 MegaBytes of information. This type of card is
available in larger sizes and spare cards can be used just like
you would have changed your film cartridge in traditional film
cameras.
This camera can be used with the supported operating systems
which are the most popular current platforms. Software is also
supplied to make access to the camera easier.
Determining the power area is very important. You need to know
what type of battery your camera uses and how many shots the
battery will last for. This camera uses AA alkaline batteries but
also has an optional charger adapter.
The compact range of digital cameras would be fine for
snapshots. The point and shoot style of camera is easy to use as
it comes with fully automatic functions. You can enlarge images
up to 28x35cm. The images would be fine for emailing to friends
22
or making online photo albums. You wouldn’t want to enlarge
any of these images to poster size as the quality may begin to
deteriorate. You would also find that cropping these images will
quickly reduce the quality as well. For the price they are a good
buy for the average camera user.
Exercise 3
Go to http://www.energizer.com/learning/batterycare.asp or http://www.
duracell.com/au/main/pages/product-information-battery-care-disposal.asp
and have a look at the battery care information
Have a look at some of the product data sheets for the Occupational health
and safety information about handling, storage and disposal of batteries at
http://data.energizer.com/Static.aspx?Name=ProductSafety or http://www.
duracell.com/oem/Safety/.
Exercise 4
So we’ve now had a look at some of the different specifications on a low
end camera. How would we choose between different cameras in this price
range? The Matrix! The Matrix was not just a popular movie; it is also a very
useful tool that we can use in determining and judging similar products to
make an educated decision on the best product for our needs.
A matrix lists the specifications that are important to our decision and then
compares common specification of similar products.
Using the following matrix compare the Canon A430 to other cameras in its
price range and see which you would buy.
Important Features
Canon A430
Choice 2
Choice 3
cost
Power Source
Optical Zoom
Viewfinder
LCD monitor
Flash Modes
Flash range
Shooting Modes
Shooting speed
/burst mode
image format
storage
White Balance
Control
Shooting Capacity
23
Mid Range Cameras.
We are going to investigate the Canon Digital IXUS 55.
This is also a compact digital
Figure 8 Canon
camera but is in the mid
Digital IXUS 55
range in cost for this type
of camera. Lets look at the
differences in what features
differ from the Canon A430.
Have a look at the cameras specifications at the
Canon Web Site. http://www.canon.com.au/products/
cameras/digital_compact_cameras/digitalixus55.html.
The main difference you will find in this camera is that it does
video format as well as still images. The image sizes are larger
and the battery is a Rechargeable Lithium-ion battery.
This camera still images size and storage capacity
24
So the images are better quality but the files size are larger. This
camera comes with exactly the same storage of 16 MB as the
Canon A430
The power source
Interesting, don’t you think? This camera has video, better
quality images and uses a rechargeable battery. However you
get less shots on the storage space supplied, and the shooting
capacity at full charge is less. So it has some better features
and some disadvantages. Purchasing a larger memory card
and additional battery would soon overcome these problems.
This camera would be great for the same group of users as the
Canon A430, those who are looking for a camera that you don’t
need to buy batteries for and who would like the added feature
of video.
Top Range Cameras (SLR)
There was not a lot of major differences between the low and
mid range cameras. They are very easy to use and reasonably
affordable.
The digital SLR cameras are a completely different beast. To get
the best out of these cameras, you must understand how to use
the manual settings on the camera. They have fully automatic
features so any one can use them but they are a waste if they
are not used to their full potential.
Like the point and shoot types of digital cameras, there are also
low, mid and high ranges of DSLR. The Canon EOS 350D is in
the lower end of the range. A fantastic camera for the amateur
25
or semi professional, with an 8 megapixel CMOS sensor, it would
be an excellent choice for good quality prints with excellent
enlargement potential. Canon EOS 1Ds mark II body is a camera
made for the professional. With a 16.7 megapixel CMOS sensor
– this camera can capture fantastic quality prints.
SLR cameras have changeable lenses, just like their film
counterparts. The EOS 350D comes with 2 lenses, with many
others available. The EOS -1 Ds comes with no lens. There
are many additional parts and components available for both
cameras, many are interchangeable. A vast array of lenses for
example are available for the EOS range of cameras that can be
used on both of these examples.
Figure 9 Canon EOS
Figure 10 Canon EOS 1D
Lets compare the difference between these two cameras. Below
is a table that compares side by side the differences. You can
see very quickly the main difference is in the quality of the
image captured, demonstrating the professional use of each.
The EOS 350D being more affordable but having only half the
megapixels of the EOS -1Ds.
26
Image sensor: 8.0 megapixel CMOS sensor;
22.2x 14.8mm effective size
Number of recording Large / Fine: 3456 (H) x
pixels: 2304 (V) pixels
Middle / Fine: 2496 (H) x
1664 (V) pixels
Small / Fine: 1728 (H) x
1152 (V) pixels
RAW: 3456 (H) x 2304 (V)
pixels
Sensitivity (equivalent ISO 100, 200, 400, 800,
film speed): 1600 (selectable via ISO
speed menu)
Image data storage: Compact FlashT (CF) card Type I
or Type II standard; 1 slot
Image compression: JPEG or RAW
Image compression Raw / Fine / Normal
level:
Image storage capacity (with 512mb Large / Fine: approx. 145
flash card): images
16.7 Megapixel CMOS
sensor 36 x 24mm
effective size
Large: 4992 x 3328
pixels; 5.5MB
Medium1: 3600 x 2400
pixels; 3.2MB
Medium2: 3072 x 2048
pixels; 2.6MB
Small: 2496 x 1664
pixels; 1.9MB
RAW: 4992 x 3328
pixels; 14.6MB
ISO 100-1600 in 1/3stop increments; can be
expanded to ISO 50 and
3200
Compact FlashTM (CF) card
Type I or Type II standard,
SD memory card
JPEG or RAW (12 bit)
N/A
Large 93 images
Medium 1 160 images
Medium 2 196 images
Small 269 image
Large / Normal: approx. 279
images
Middle / Fine: approx. 245
images
Middle / Normal: approx.
466 images
Small / Fine: approx. 419
images
Small / Normal: approx. 790
images
27
Image storage RAW / Fine: approx. 58
capacity (with 128mb images
flash card):
Lens: Canon EF and EF-S series,
effective focal length 1.6x
Shutter: Vertical-travel, mechanical,
focal plane shutter with
all speeds electronically
controlled
Shutter speed: 1/4000 sec. - 30 sec. (1/3-stop
or 1/2-stop increments), Xsync at 1/200 sec.
Focusing modes: Autofocus (One-shot AF,
Predictive AI Servo AF, AI
Focus AF) and Manual
Light metering Evaluative, Partial at centre,
method: Center-weighted average
metering
Metering range: EV1-EV20
White balance control: Auto - Daylight - Shade
- Cloudy, twilight, sunset
- Tungsten light - White
fluorescent light - Flash Custom
Shooting modes: Program AE, Shutter-priority AE
(Tv), Aperture priority AE (Av),
Depth-of-field AE, Full Auto,
Programmed Image Control
modes (6), Manual, E-TTL II
autoflash program AE
Continuous shooting 3 fps for up to 12 frames
speed:
Self timer: Yes - 10 seconds
Flash (built-in): Auto pop-up, retractable,
built-in flash in the
pentaprism
Flash guide number 13 at 100 ISO (m)
(built-in):
Flash system: E-TTL II autoflash
Flash (external): Hot-shoe: X-sync contacts, with
EX-series Speedlites, Canon
A-TTL/TTL autoflash and nonCanon flash units
Optical viewfinder: SLR-Type eye-level viewfinder
with fixed pentamirror)
Viewfinder -3 to +1 dpt
adjustment:
Viewfinder coverage: 95% (vertically and horizontally)
Monitor type: 1.8” TFT colour, liquid crystal
monitor
28
8 images RAW
Canon EF lenses (except
EF-S), effective focal length
1x
Electronically-controlled,
focal plane shutter
1/8000 sec. - 30 sec. (1/3stop increments), bulb, Xsync at 1/250 sec.
Autofocus (One-shot AF, AI
Servo AF) and Manual
Evaluative, Partial, Spot
(Center spot, AF point
spot, multi-spot), Centerweighted average metering
EV0-EV20
Auto, Daylight, Shade,
Cloudy, Tungsten Light,
Fluorescent Light,
Flash, Manual, Colour
Temperature Setting,
Custom White Balance
Program AE, Shutterpriority AE (Tv), Aperture
priority AE (Av), E-TTL II
autoflash, Manual, Flash
metered manual
4 fps for up to 32 frames
(at JPEG Large)
Yes - 10 or 2 seconds delay
N/A
N/A
N/A
E-TTL II autoflash with EXseries Speedlite
SLR-Type eye-level
pentamirror viewfinder
-3 to +1 dpt
100% (vertically and
horizontally) with respect to
the effective pixels
2.0” TFT colour liquidcrystal monitor; 230,000
pixels
File format: Complies to Design rule for
Camera File standards
Interface: Digital Terminal: USB 2.0 HiSpeed
Video Output Terminal: NTSC /
PAL
Remote Control Terminal for RS60E3
Wireless Remote Control for RC1 and RC-5
Direct printing: Camera, CP Direct, Bubble Jet
Direct or PictBridge compatible
printer, dedicated cable
Power source: Rechargeable Lithium-ion
battery (type: NB-2LH), AC
adapter (type: ACK700)
Operating Temperature: 0° - 40° C;
environment: Humidity: 85% or lower
Dimensions (W x H x 126.5 x 94.2 x 64mm
D):
Weight: Approx. 485g
Operating platforms: PC: Windows 98SE, 2000, Me,
XP
MAC: Mac OS X 10.1.5 to 10.3
Complies to Design rule for
Camera File standards
USB, IEEE1394, Video
Output Terminal: NTSC /
PAL
Yes, to Canon CP Direct,
Canon BubbleJet Direct
and PictBridge compatible
printers
One Ni-MH Pack NP-E3
Temperature: 0° - 45° C;
Humidity: 85% or lower
156 x 158 x 80mm
Approx. 1,215g (body only)
PC: Windows 98SE, 2000,
Me, XP
MAC: Mac OS from 9.0 to
9.2, Mac OS X 10.1 to 10.3
All data based on Canon’s Standard Test Method:
Subject to change without notice:
There is one very big consideration to make with this comparison. At the
time of writing this the Canon EOS350D with 2 lenses was advertised on
the Canon site for $1599.00 Australian Dollars. The EOS-1Ds Back only was
$12999.00. That’s a lot of difference in price. From a professional standpoint
the extra quality would far out weigh the price asked. A professional
photographer would save that difference in film and processing costs alone
in the first year of use, but to the average photo buff, it’s probably a bit
pricey.
The EOS 350D and EOS 1Ds Mark II won top honours at the prestigious
Technical Image Press Association Awards of 2005. The EOS 350D taking
out best entry level Digital SLR Camera and the EOS-1Ds taking out Best
Professional Level Digital SLR Camera. For more information about other
winners of these awards see http://www.tipa.com/awa_2005.lasso
Exercise 5
Go to other camera manufacturers sites and see if you can find cameras
that compare with the Canon
29
Memory Cards
We use memory cards for storage on the camera of our captured images. We
can use memory cards much like we used to use film in cameras. If we have
extra film we can reload the camera and continue photographing without too
much interruption. The size of the memory card will determine the amount
of storage on our device and how often we might need to reload the camera.
In most cases one or two cards will do fine. Most digital cameras taking jpeg
photos will hold 100+ photos without too much problem. When we get into the
higher megapixel cameras we need both larger memory cards and more of
them, depending on what the camera is being used for.
SD Memory cards/Multimedia cards
These cards are popular for many devices, including mobile
phones, hand held games, PDA’s and of course digital
cameras. They come in a huge variety of sizes, starting
from 256mb right up to 2gig+ cards.
For more detailed information about how SD memory cards
work and what other types of devices use them go to
Figure 11 SD Cards http://www.sdcard.org/
Compact Flash Cards.
These cards are larger in size but also available in large
storage sizes. These cards hold from 128MB to 4GB+ For
the serious professional the more space the better. If you
have a look at the prices of some of the range of sizes
you will soon see there is a major difference when buying
cards. For more information about Compact Flash Cards
Figure 12 CF Cards go to http://www.compactflash.org/faqs/faq.htm
30
Exercise 6
Go to the web site www.sandisk.com and from their products select memory
cards. Find out the different prices of the SD memory cards and Compact
Flash Cards.
From the Canon cameras we looked at early, find the type of card you would
need for each camera.
Under what sort of scenario would an 8GB compact flash card be worthwhile
purchasing for the EOS-1Ds camera?
Exercise 7
Go to http://www.shortcourses.com/choosing/contents.htm and read the
information about choosing a digital camera on this web site.
31
Section 2 Basic Photographic Principals.
Composition and Balance
Most good photographs have some rules that have been applied. There are
those that break the rules but more often than not we can see why good
photography is good.
By following some of these rules your photography can improve
dramatically.
Using foreground objects as a point of
reference.
The art of framing your subject using
doorways, overhanging branches, etc can
give your image a sense of depth and size.
Using objects in the foreground can help
establish the size of an object therefore
giving a sense of scale. Examples shown in
figure 13, 14 and 15
Figure 14
Figure 13
Figure 15
32
Avoid Distracting Backgrounds.
When composing your photograph most people are so interested in the main
focus of the image that they don’t consider looking past that and seeing
what is in the background. Bright colours, signs, and busy backgrounds can
be the most distracting. Be
especially aware of what is
behind your subject when
doing portraits as often
people will have trees and
poles growing out of their
heads. Photographs can
be improved by simply
Figure 16
considering what is in the
background of the photo.
By moving your subject or
changing your angle of view
you can often improve them
(Fig 16).
Choosing main point of interest.
Sometimes you know what the main point
of interest in your images is but it might
not be obvious to others. To many things
happening in a photograph can make the
main point difficult to determine. Eliminate
all the unimportant elements by focusing
in on your main point of interest. You can
do this by zooming in (Fig 17), choosing
a different angle, using depth of field (Fig
18), or moving closer to your subject.
Figure 17
Figure 18
33
Angle of view
When photographing people it is a good
rule of thumb to photograph them at your
subject’s eye level (fig 18, 20). For formal
portraiture this is very important. If you want
to be a bit more creative adjust your angle of
view. Photographing things from a different
perspective will give you some fun and creative
images (fig 18, 21 and 22). You can also
Figure 19
exaggerate the size of your subjects using
different angles. For instance, to make your pet
seem small, photograph from a high vantage
point. It will make them look smaller than
photographing them at eye level.
Figure 20
Figure 21
34
Figure 22
Figure 23: Same subject,
different angle
Figure 24: Another example of same subject different angle, different lighting
35
Placing subject off center – the
rule of thirds.
The rule of thirds has been a popular
photographic and art concept for many
years. Basically you divide your image
with imaginary lines that intersect.
When the points intersect, you place
your points of interest. It is also a
good reference for the horizon. There
Figure 25
is nothing worse than having a picture
cut in half by having the horizon
exactly center. It seems to balance the
picture having the horizon on the top
or bottom third.
Figure 26
Figure 27
36
Figure 28
Figure 29
Figure 30
37
Figure 31
Figure 32
Leading Lines
Sometimes natural lines
will lead you through an
image to the main subject.
A road, fence, waterline etc
can direct the eye. Diagonal
lines tend to give a more
dramatic look and curved
lines are more flowing and
graceful.
Figure 34
38
Figure 33
Figure 35
Figure 36
Horizontal or Vertical.
Don’t always use your camera
for horizontal photographs. You
can turn it sideways you know!!
Experiment with both horizontal
and vertical versions of photographs
and see what difference it can
make.
Figure 37
Exercise 8
Search the internet for images that demonstrate the concepts of Using
foreground objects as a point of reference, Angle of view, Placing subject
off centre – the rule of thirds, and Leading Lines. http://www.alamy.com
is an excellent place to visit to find images. Using the images you found,
put them in a word document and comment on how each one uses the
concepts. Have your lecturer go over your comments to ensure you have a
full understanding.
39
Lighting
Photography is all about light. Light is what is captured to create the image.
The direction or position of light will make changes to how your main subject
is seen. Strong light will look very different to soft light, candle light will look
different to spot light. Being able to control, or work within the lighting you
have available to you is very important.
Sunlight - High Front Light
This form of lighting is great
because most of our scene will
be well lit, bright sunny days
can bring out the colours of our
scene. However, they may cause
your subject to squint. High Noon
sunlight can create deep shadows
under eyes and chins and need you
to use fill in flash. If photographing
in full sun do so when the sun is
not at its highest, mid morning and
mid afternoon are both excellent
times.
Figure 39
Figure 38
Figure 40
Full Flash – Front Lighting.
This type of lighting does light the entire
scene evenly. It does however lack volume
and depth and the scene appears to be flat
with few shadows.
40
Figure 41
Figure 42
Side Lighting.-45 degrees
Side lighting is lighting that is
coming at a 45 degree angle from
the side of the subject. It is one
of the most used types of portrait
lighting. It separates the subject
for the background, conveys depth
and texture and can be used to
emphasize dimension, shape
and pattern. It can however be
too severe for some subjects.
Using a reflector or fill flash can
compensate for this problem and
produce fantastic results.
Figure 43
Figure 44
Figure 45
Figure 46
Figure 47
Figure 48
41
Backlighting
Figure 49
This type of light is by far
the trickiest to pull off but
the dramatic results can be
worth your while. By lighting
the subject from the back
you can simplify a scene
by emphasizing the subject
as in a silhouette. It can
provide a flattering halo in
portraits and can add strong
shadows in landscapes. One
problem that you can come across in backlit subjects is
lens flair – light directly entering the lens from the light
source. Easily fixed by shielding your camera
with your hand, a book etc, just enough to
shade the lens but not obscure your view.
Figure 50
Figure 51
Figure 52
42
Using Aperture and Shutter Speed.
If your camera allows you to control
the aperture and shutter speed of
your camera you can use this to your
advantage.
Aperture is set using the fstop on the
lens. The wider the lens is open, the
more light that gets to the sensor,
and the smaller number the f stop is.
To control the depth of field we use
the aperture set to a high number
for a small depth of field and a low
number to keep as much in focus as
possible.
Shutter speed can be used to give
Figure 53. Using a fast shutter the feeling of movement or for
speed for action shots allows the capturing fast moving action. The
water in this photograph to be
larger the shutter speed the faster
the action that can be caught. Slow
shutter speeds can allow us to
see motion or movement.
You will need a very good
digital camera to be able to use
these features. Some of the
auto features will have these
settings automatically set into
the camera. Experiment and
see what you can create.
Figure 54. This image used a slow
shutter speed and you can see the
children are in motion
Exercise 9
Using images from http://www.alamy.com, find and explain the use of the
lighting styles described. Add this information to the document you created
in exercise 9 and make sure you comment on how each one uses the
lighting styles. Have your lecturer go over your comments to ensure you
have a full understanding.
43
Light sources
Natural Light
Natural light has an array of possibilities: from bright sunny days to overcast
rainy days to sunsets and sunrise and all the possibilities in between.
The secret is to identify the different types of natural light situations and
recognise their benefits.
Overcast days can be prefect for portraits as
there are no harsh shadows or fill flash needed.
Rainy days can give fantastic reflections. Soft
foggy light will give a different feeling to the
same landscape that might look vibrant and crisp
on a sunny day.
Figure 55
44
Figure 56
Figure 57 Same subject but different
natural lighting. See how the full sun
gives deep shadows.
Figure 58
Figure 59
Figure 60
45
Other Light
When looking at our digital cameras we
mentioned white balance and colour
temperature. When we look at other
available light that is man made we
come across the problem of colour casts.
Fluorescent lights create a green hue,
traditional light bulbs (tungsten) create
a yellow hue. We don’t see the colour
casts because our brains white balance
automatically correct this for us. Cameras
aren’t that smart, however most do
have built in white balance features that
compensate for the white balance. Many
shooting modes also compensate for these
problems. By understanding the different
shooting modes on our cameras we can
often head off having these problems in
our photographs. If you do still have a
problem with colour casts it is possible
to correct them in our digital darkroom,
particularly if we have used raw files.
Figure 61: Tungsten Light
Figure 62: Corrected
Figure 63
46
Flash, fill flash and flash off.
Flash allows us to photograph in
less that perfect lighting conditions.
Always stay within the flash range of
your camera. I avoid the use of red
eye reductions settings as it can be
distracting and confusing to subjects.
Instead have the subject look slightly
away from the camera or add more
light to the area (turn on the room
lights!). If all else fails we can fix the
Figure 64
red eye problem in our digital darkroom.
Fill flash is a much more natural type of
lighting as it doesn’t blast the subject with
light. It fills in the darker shadows enough
to give detail but still gives shape and
Figure 65
texture. Best used for sunny days that give
strong shadows, backlit images to give some
detail and to compensate for any other shadow problems.
Flash off captures exactly what you see. Fantastic for those
Figure 66 special lighting situations such as low light or the quality
of the light is in itself worth capturing. If using
flash off you may need a longer exposure time so
steady yourself against something and keep your
elbows anchored by your side.
Figure 68
Figure 67
Figure 69
47
Reflecting Light.
Instead of using fill flash, if you have the
ability, reflect the light back into the subject to
softly fill in those dark shadows. A commonly
used technique amongst professionals.
Reflectors can be purchased from most good
photographic shops or you can use simple
things such as white polystyrene sheets,
paper/cardboard etc. Fig 70 demonstrates the
use of reflection as the silver surface of to table has created a
Figure70
reflection of light that has filled in the darker shadows in this childs face.
Studio Light
Photographers for centuries have been creating their own sources of light.
Professional light kits include a number of special pieces of equipment to
direct, soften, harden and control lighting situations. Photographic studios
are a very dark place, so that the photographer has full control over the
lighting environment.
Exercise 10
In a search engine look for Australian Professional Photographers. Have a
look at the different lighting styles that they use, the different locations,
and how they have used some of the concepts discussed earlier such as
horizontal vs vertical, slow shutter speed vs fast shutter speed. Think about
how they might have created the image.
Some of my favourite Aussie’s sites are www.robinsellick.com for fantastic
commercial portraits, www.davidsummerhayes.com for fantastic landscapes
and fine art photography, www.timwilliams.com.au for portrait wedding
examples. All of these photographers I know personally and am a fan
of their work. www.aipp.com.au has a list of many other Australian
photographers.
Exercise 11
Go to http://www.shortcourses.com/using/index.htm and read the
information about using a digital camera on this web site.
Exercise 12
You now understand how to use your digital camera, how to compose
images, and what types of lighting you can use. Using your digital camera
try to capture some images using the different settings of your camera,
48
Particularly those that we have discussed in this section such as the
different flash options, using reflective surfaces and back lighting.
Experiment with your cameras different modes to discover what your
camera is capable of.
Talking to Photographs
No, you dont have to be mad to talk to photographs. What is meant by
“talking to photographs” is how images are judged and discussed. Being
able to speak about a photograph, its technical content and what the image
is trying to say is known as the ability to speak to a photograph. Why
would we want to do this? This is how images are judged in photographic
competitons and how images are discussed in reviews of exhibitions. If we
know it exists then we can understand it.
Exercise 13
You are to speak to 2 photographs. One of the photographs you will really
like and the other you don’t. You need to explain why you like or don’t like
the photograph and what you think the photograph is trying to say. Add this
information to the document you created in exercise 9 and 10 and make
sure you include the image and your comments. Have your lecturer go over
your comments to ensure you have a full understanding of what talking to
photographs is all about.
49
Section 3 Digital Darkroom Techniques
There is a number of different software available for editing your digital
images. All of them have similar basic features. We will investigate what
these features are and you can then use the software of your choice to
practice with these techniques.
Save a Copy, never use the original
All these images need storage in a way that we can find them again easily.
We need to make a back up copy on a regular basis or we will loose our
images. Digital Image storage can be done in many ways and it will be your
personal preference that dictates how you store and back up your images.
You can use chronological order which is my personal favourite. Keeping
a folder for the year, then folders inside that year named after the events
captured. Back up part or all of the year as needed. Alphabetically in folders
explaining what’s inside the folder is another popular choice.
Always copy onto some form of permanent storage your digital images. If
your computer has to be rebuilt, gets infected with a data eating virus or
hard drive fails you don’t want to loose all of those precious memories. DVD
or CD backup is popular. I also have an external hard drive that I use as a
storage device for all original images.
When working with images never adjust the original. You never know when
you might want to use it in its original form. Always open the original, save
as a different file and then work on the copy of the file.
Rotate
Sometimes our photography isn’t perfect and we
might need to rotate and image to straighten the
image up a bit. All editing software that I know
of has this facility usually found in conjunction
with the crop tool.
Figure 1 original image
unedited 50
Figure 2 Image cropped and rotated
Crop
Cropping an image allows you to zoom into the part of the image
that you want to use, removing the unwanted components of the
image. The crop icon is found in all software and easily
recognisable. You drag and drop the crop tool on the
image, then adjust the edges until you’re happy with
your crop. Then accept the changes and wallah, its
cropped. If your crop tool allows rotating at the
same time you will find your cursor changes
when hovering around the corner of the crop
window to a 90 degree bent arrow. Simply drag
the corners using this arrow to rotate the crop
area.
Correct Colour and Tone
Your editing software will give
you options to correct contrast,
brightness, and sometimes colour
casts and mid tones. These features
will allow you to correct exposure and
lighting problems. Different software
handles this area differently, some with wizards
that do most of the work for you and some with manual features that you
can adjust yourself.
Exercise 14
Using some of your own images and the software package of your choice,
practice with the crop, rotate and colour correction features.
51
Repair and Restore
Some of the more complicated editing software allows
you to repair and restore images. This feature is excellent
when wanting to fix problems with faded, damaged and
old photographs. Each software has its own tools to do
this. Some experimenting is required when learning
how to use these tools. Remember to always make a
copy of your original image before you start to edit it.
Exercise 15
Using an old or damaged image practice using the repair
and restore features on your software package.
Cosmetic Improvements
We all know the magazines improve the look of their models but so can
we. Similar to the repair and restore features of software there are also tools
that you can use for cosmetic improvements. From revitalising the colours
in photographs to softening skin tones, removing wrinkles and whitening
teeth to improve the look of portraits. The more comprehensive software
packages have these features. With the restore and repair tools, you
will need to experiment and practice to master their use.
Exercise 16
Using a photograph of your own experiment with the cosmetic
improvements tools in your software package. Search the internet for
tutorials specific to your software package.
Save Your Working File
Each of the more complicated software packages will have their own file
format that will save additional information that will help you to continue
working on an image, retaining file specific information such as layers etc.
Always save your working file regularly, particularly when you have your
image to a point that you’re pleased with it.
Resize or Resample
Want to resize an image so that you can print it larger.
That should have been a consideration at the time of taking the photograph.
Sometimes things happen and we cant get a better quality image to
use. But if you have a great image but it will only print really clearly to
20cmx25cm and want to make it larger you need to look at resampling and
52
resizing the image. There is specific software available to do this for you or
you can investigate the resampling options within the software that you are
using. For more information about this go to http://graphicssoft.about.com/
cs/resolution/a/increasingres.htm
Exercise 17
Try resampling and resizing one of your own images.
Download some free upsampling software from the internet and try it out.
How well did it work?
Unsharp Mask
We can use UnsharpMask (USM) to improve the sharpness of our images.
Many software packages, scanning software and camera software comes
with this feature. For detailed information about how and why it happens go
to http://graphicssoft.about.com/gi/dynamic/offsite.htm?site=http%3A%2F
%2Fwww.photoxels.com%2Ftutorial_sharpen_display.html
Save a Copy for Final Output
If your going to print or use your images outside of the software package
that you have been using you will need to save a final version of your image
in a format that can be used for printing. Most good print houses can print
in either TIFF or JPG format. JPG format seems to be the most common. If
you have done a lot of manipulation of the image, save your working file
just in case you wish to use it again at a later date.
Online Resources for learning Specific Software Packages
Specific to this book you will find resources at www.melneumann.com/
studentzone. This site gives many video tutorials with files you can work on
for all that we have discussed in section 3 of these notes.
Photoshop:
http://graphicssoft.about.com/od/photoshop/l/bllps5out.htm
Paint Shop Pro
http://graphicssoft.about.com/od/digitalphotography/a/10stepprep.htm and
follow the links for paint shop pro tutorials.
53
Section 4 Output of Images
So we have a fantastic collection of electronic images. We often show
people on our computer some of what we have taken, as well as fantastic
restorations, manipulations and enhancements that we have made. We may
be very impressed with what we have done that we want to make it easy to
show others.
We used to carry around in our bag a packet of prints from the latest trip
away, or the photos of our children that we brag to others about how
absolutely beautiful these children are. We used to bluetac these prints to
our work station walls, put them in frames or enlarge them and hang them
on our walls and in galleries.
Electronic images seem to be a bit like the old fashion slides. We need a
slide show to show them to others. Of course we can create slide shows
electronically and email them to our friends but how can Grandma show her
friends her brag book in this day and age???????
Take your pick of options. There are some very exciting things that we can
do with our photographs, especially now we understand the finer points of
photographing and enhancing our images.
Prints
What a good idea. Let’s print our photographs. We could then put them in
an old fashion style of album, frame them, give them to our friends, stick
them on the fridge with magnets. All the things we use to do with prints
from negatives. But how do we go about printing our photographs.
There are a number of ways we can print our images.
We can use online services where we upload, order and pay for prints
online. They then arrive in the mail a few days later.
Exercise 18
Go to www.kodak.com.au and have a look at the different printing services
and pricing that is available. Have a look at some of their special printing
options like printing on to mugs, t-shirts etc.
54
We can use a Digital Imaging Kiosk. These little machines allow us to take
our images on USB drives/CD/ memory stick and print them on the spot
for a very small charge. This type of service has replaced the minilabs such
as fujifilm, Rabbit Photo and Kodak Express previously found in almost any
shopping centre. They would process your film, print your film, do reprints
and enlargements. We will also find these digital imaging kiosks in places
like Harvey Norman, Foodland, Kmart etc.
Exercise 19
Search the internet for a Digital Imaging Kiosk near where you live. Visit the
Kiosk and see what services they provide. How different are the services in
comparison with there online counterparts.
We can print the images on our home printer.
Some digital cameras have Docking Printers
which is a printer that the camera attaches to.
They will print 6inx4in prints directly from the
camera on to specially designed photographic
paper. Kodak have a fantastic array of cameras
with docking station. This is something that we
should consider when buying a camera. Most well known
brands now have the docking style printers for their range of cameras.
Exercise 20
Have a look at some of the digital camera sites and see what companies
have dockable printers that will print 6x4in prints directly from the camera.
Do the cameras that we looked at earlier have dockable printers? What are
some of the features that these types of printers come with?
We can print larger prints from our home printers, up to A4 size in most
cases for home users. We can purchase special photographic paper for
use with the printers. We sometimes find what we see on our computer
screen doesn’t match completely with what is printed. This colour matching
problem can be improved by calibrating the monitor to the printer. See your
printer and computer documentation guide to see if this is possible. The
quality of home printers will dictate the quality of the print. For that special
print you might consider one of the other options.
Exercise 21
See what you can find on the internet about the life span of photographic
paper. Find out about etching paper and canvas that digital prints can be
printed on.
55
We can go to a Professional Printing Service who deals with professional
images. They will not only print our images but colour correct, crop, frame,
and laminate our images for display. They are able to do extremely large
prints as long as the quality of the image is ok. They will be able to advise
you on other possibilities like using filters to create art like images or other
printing options such as printing on to canvas, art papers, etc. The final
cost of the image is often more but the service and quality can make a big
difference.
Exercise 22
Go to www.atkinstechnicolour.com and have a look at their price list to see
the types of professional services available from a professional photographic
lab and the prices that they charge. How different are their prices from the
Digital Imaging Kiosks?
Making Books
The most incredible phenomenon in
presentation of images is the growing interest
in coffee table style books. There are a number
of companies that will print an entire book
or your creations and bind them into a very
impressive hard cover book. This can be done
online at places like www.kodakgallery.com, by
downloading free software such as at www.momento.com.au, or buy
using software such as Adobe’s Photo Album software and then
taking the finished file to companies such as www.digitaldavinci.com.au. A
sense of design and creativity will help you to develop fabulous creations,
fantastic gifts and life long memories that can be passed down. There are
also services available that will do the design and creativity part of the
process with your images.
Exercise 23
Download the free software from www.
momento.com.au and try out the software to
create a book of your own. Try out some of
the different options available in the software.
Create a book of some of the images you have created in this course.
Have a look at the www.kodakgallery.com site and look up books. Try that
process to compare the two processes. If you are using a Mac, go to www.
digitaldavinci.com.au and download the free software for MAC albums and
compare that to the kodakgallery site.
56
The other very popular book idea is digital scrapbooks. This is an electronic
version of the very popular scrap booking craze. Again a very creative way
to display your images.
Exercise 24
Look up the term Digital Scrapbook on the internet. Find out what its all
about. When could you see a viable option for scrap booking your images?
Electronic Slide Shows and screensavers.
There are many software products that will take still images and make them
into electronic slide shows or screensavers. Slide shows often use music
and transition, motion and special effects to create interesting electronic
slide shows. We can then use these to email to friends, put onto CD or DVD,
add to media devices such as picture viewers and video Ipods etc.
This is an excellent way to create a presentation for many purposes.
Exercise 25
We will use Microsoft’s moviemaker to create a simple yet effective video
slide show.
• Choose a series of images to use for your slideshow. Place the images into
a folder on their own. Select some music for the presentation and put that
also in the folder.
• Open Moviemaker.(start>>accessories>>movie maker).
• Under movie tasks 1.Capture Video select Import pictures. Browse to your
folder with your selected images and import the images. They will be seen
in the collections window.
• Import An audio/music track to put on your slide show.
• Under the movie task 2.Edit Movie select the Make and AutoMovie option
• Select the music video options, add a title and select the background
music in this area
• When you have it as you would like select done, edit movie.You will have
a completed slide show which you can now use the transition and effects
windows to make changes to your slide show.
• Use the finish movie settings to experiment with different ways of
exporting your movie.
The wizards that are available in this program make it easy to put together
a presentation easily and quickly. For software that allows more options you
would need to learn a video editing software package.
The Movie Maker software is great fun. Experiment with its different options
and see what you can create. Visit the companion web site for this set of
notes to view a video tutorial on this exercise.
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Exercise 26
We can also create screensavers of our images and display them on our
computer screens.
http://www.webshots.com/samplers/ has free software that will allow you to
create your own screensavers from any group of photos or images files you
like.
Using some of the photographs you have created make a screensaver for
you desktop.
Apart from creating electronic slide shows and screensavers we can now buy
image previewers. These are electronic devices with hard drives that can
store images and create slide shows for us. These devices are small enough
to carry around in our handbag, as good as looking at images that have
been printed.
The Epson Multimedia storage viewer is an excellent example of what is
available. Go to http://www.epson.com.au/products/multimedia/p2000.
asp and have a look at the specifications for this device. It will view still and
video images, including sound etc.
A cheaper alternative is the Kodak Easyshare picture viewer. Go to the
Kodak web site and find out information about this product.
Exercise 27
Compare the two viewers mentioned and create a matrix like we did
with the digital cameras to see what would be the best option for you to
purchase. Search the internet and find other brands of picture viewers.
Online Galleries
There are many areas on the internet that allow you to use space to create
an online gallery. Many of these galleries allow you to upload and invite
others to view your images. Go to www.kodakgallery.com and see what
services they have available to members.
Another online gallery that offers space is http://www.deviantart.com. This
site is very different to the Kodak site for a number of reasons.
The Kodak site is very commercial and offers many additional features such
as being able to order prints online etc. this site is great because of all of
the other services it offers.
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Deviant art is a fantastic site to get comment about your photography. It
is more about the photographic images as it offers limited other services
but is a community of like minded photographic creators. It also has some
fantastic examples of other peoples art work which can inspire us to do
better.
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Section 5 Where to now?
Well we have come to the end of this journey. There are many things you
can do from here. You can continue to practice all that we have discussed
in these notes. Practice using the different features of your digital camera.
Practice the use of lighting and composition techniques. The more
photographs you take the better you will get at taking them. Dont be afraid
to experiment with your digital images and play with the different mode
settings your camera has.
Your next step would be to manipulate your images further. Editing software
will allow you to manipulate and bring out the best in your images but some
software is limited in what it can do. There are a number of excellent books
and web sites that provide tutorials on most of the popular photographic
software editing tools. My tool of choice is Photoshop and it is currently the
industry standard. There are many fine publications that I recomend for
learning photoshop which you will find on the companion web site for these
notes. The companion web site is www.melneumann.com/studentzone. This
site will be continually updated and will provide further information as to
resources that myself and my students have found useful.
Please also feel free to email any additional information about sites you have
found useful and we will include them on the web site.
I hope you have enjoyed Capture a Digital Image. Keep On Snapping!!
Mel
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About the Photographs
There are many images used in this publication. The following is details
about the photographers and what camera the images were taken using.
Melissa Neumann
Adelaide photographer Melissa Neumann has been a photographer since 1991, with Children
being her main specialty.
Mel has won many Australian Awards for her photographic work. She is now a retired
member of the Australian Institute of Professional Photography, was the State Present for
2 years and was an Associate Member for many years. Melissa has the honor of having one
of her images being accepted in to the 1994 Loan Collection in the American Professional
Photography Awards. This image is now, I believe, in the New York Metropolitan Museum of
Modern Art, New York’s collection.
Melissa returned to Study in Information Technology in 1998 and her main employment is
with TAFESA as a lecturer in multimedia, teaching photographic concepts and photographic
manipulation, web development, basic video production, as well as other areas of Multimedia.
Her main interest still lies in photography and photographic art.
She enjoys teaching others about the fun you can have with digital cameras and is determined
to improve others photographic abilities by making resources she has created avalable to the
world free of charge.
Mel’s Images in the book.
Taken with her Nokia 1.3 megapixel phone camera:
Taken with a Kodak DX4530 5.1 megapixel camera:
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Taken with a Canon EOS 350D 8 megapixel camera:
Taken with Film based cameras:
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James Pannell
James is a 10 year old grade 3 year old who loves to use dads camera around their farm
property. If a 10 year old can cpture such good images images imagine what he will be able
to do when he gets older.
Vince Pannell
Vince is a network adminstrator and Tafesa lecturer who dabbles in photography.
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Thanks to those companies that have alowed us to use product shots
from their web sites.
Canon: www.canon.com.au
Kodak: www.kodak.com.au
Lexar: www.lexar.com
Momento: www.momento.com.au & www.momentopro.com.au
Sandisk: www.sandisk.com/
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There are more photographs taken daily than ever before. This is
because of the wonderful revolution in Digital Photography.
This set of notes is designed to explain the most important basic
information that you need to know to capture good quality digital
images.
Created for the beginner and written by Lecturer Melissa Neumann,
the content of this book and the suplementing files available on the
web site supply the learner with a full set of resources for learning all
about digital photography.
www.melneumann.com/studentzone
www.melneumann.com
The best kept secret in town